02/23/2010

The Arc blog is taking a day off today. Like all good training, a little rest is sometimes needed. But we'll back tomorrow with our ATP-PC system topped off, our VO2 max up just a little and all those nagging aches healed...

02/21/2010

The films last night were spectacular. There was the normal Banff Film Festival fare of heart pounding, palm sweating climbing films and social commentary films focused on Tibetan culture. However, the most stunning film was called "Take a Seat."

The film, and the concept behind the film, was brilliant.

A man on a tandem rides along and picks up stokers at random times. Some ride with him for days. Others only a few minutes.

There are deserts that he crosses alone because no one will ride with him. The loneliness that besets the man and his recorded reflections grab the heart strings and tear them to pieces.

But then there are people who truly end up sharing a bond with the cyclist. They ride with him, sharing energy, trials and joys. They hang in with him through snowstorms and mudslides, salt flats and freezing temps.

They share in the joy of completing the journey with him.

It is an amazing analogy of life.

A tandem works best when two people are riding together, joined by an inflexible frame that translates power into forward movement. But, as the film makes clear, there can be varying levels of commitment by the partners on the bike, as there is in life.

Some partners are short term.

Others are long term.

The really cool thing is that the film shows the final joy of partners who hang in together through adversity. The celebration scene at the end of the film captures the quiet satisfaction of people completing a nearly impossible project together. It captures perfectly the joy of mutuality, the amazing confluence of mature personal responsibility and unreserved self giving.